Heart of the Matter
by SophieSaulie
Summary: Billy and Adele go undercover on a mission in Rome.  She and Billy get to talking about life in the CIA and Rick then an assassin threatens. Not a romance between them.


**Heart of the Matter**

The mission was in Rome and the choices for who would bring in the asset were simple: Billy and Adele. Their cover was to play a wealthy married couple. She had grown up there when her father had been an Ambassador. She was familiar with the area and spoke fluent Italian. She was planning on following the same career path as her father at some point in the future so choosing her was an obvious one. She had agreed easily and was looking forward to going back there. Her career as Deputy Director had kept her away for several years.

Rick had wished that he could have played her husband and that pleasantly amused her, but Rick knew that he could never pull off playing a suave businessman as Billy could and he admitted that he wouldn't be able to be objective. He trusted Billy completely and more importantly he trusted him with her life. He would protect her and keep her safe. Besides, he wouldn't be far and they had decided to take time after the mission to spend it together in the city.

Billy and Adele had to share a suite to keep up appearances, but he had insisted on sleeping on the couch. Adele had been appreciative of his chivalry. Rick had been too. He trusted Billy. He trusted Adele. He knew Billy wasn't the type to betray a friendship that way, but he couldn't help feeling a little jealous. Billy was charming and smooth and Adele was beautiful.

Billy and Adele unpacked after completing the first phase of the mission. The room hadn't been bugged and the earwigs were off. Rick had to coordinate with Casey and Michael about the meet tomorrow so Adele and Billy could take their "covers" off for the evening. Billy was dressed in a t-shirt and sweats, his usual sleep attire. Adele wore satin pajamas. He admired her lovely form even in the baggier pajamas.

"If I may be forgiven for being forward, you look positively ravishing."

Adele smiled and blushed.

"Why thank you, Operative Collins."

"Rick is a lucky man," Billy said, his voice wistful through the sincere smile he was giving her.

"Yes, he is," she teasingly smiled back. "As am I."

Billy arched an eyebrow, his smile turning into a smirk. He respected and enjoyed a woman who was confident about her assets and her ability to bring a man helplessly down to his knees with her beauty as she had effectively done with Rick. He delighted in the budding romance and was resolved to help it along. Despite his Casanova reputation, Billy was a romantic at heart. He had been unlucky in love, but that didn't mean he couldn't help others find it.

She looked at him and saw something hidden behind the charm.

"Thank you for guiding me through this. Despite my time in the CIA, I admit that I've become more of an administrator and my spy craft has suffered for it."

"Nonsense, you studied our asset's profile and used that knowledge to secure his trust. I enjoyed watching you work."

Adele bowed her head in embarrassment and smiled.

"You know, when Rick told me he joined the CIA to serve his country, to make it a safer place, I told him that he seemed so pure and that I didn't know whether to mock him or admire him."

"Clearly you chose the admiration route." Billy teased with an arched eyebrow. "Rick's intentions certainly come from a rare state of grace for the work. It is laudable."

Adele detected something in Billy's tone and demeanor that revealed something more than he was saying with his words.

"You admire it too, don't you?"

Billy fidgeted under her gentle glare.

"I hope he never loses that idealism," Billy said dreamily.

Adele could relate to Billy's words.

"Have you?" She asked gently.

Billy's expression softened and fell a little.

"Aye, I sometimes question whether I'm just going through the motions, as it were."

"I feel that way too sometimes. I'm afraid I'm not so 'pure' anymore," she admittedly shyly.

"Rubbish. You have purity of heart, Deputy Director. A much more valued commodity."

Adele smiled coyly.

"Thank you."

She had to admit that Billy Collins always seemed to know the right things to say. He also conveyed a feeling of trust with just his presence. She felt safe and at ease with him, perhaps it was all a part of the charming facade, the act that he projected in order to gain intel, but Adele didn't think so. She felt that Billy had to possess the sincerity in order to portray it as authentically as he did, as she keenly felt it now.

"Is something wrong?" Billy asked.

She realized that she must have had a curious expression on her face and he had noticed.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked softly, not wanting to seem like she was prying.

Billy paled a bit, a split second of indecision that he was usually adept at concealing snuck through and Adele had spotted it. It was just a quick glance away then just as quickly the facade was put back into place.

"Of course."

Adele then decided to retract. She wanted to respect his privacy. The spy craft was all about secrets and the people who did the work were very good at keeping them. They also usually had their own secrets just as expertly concealed.

"Never mind, I was just thinking...it's not important."

"It's all right. What were you going to ask?"

Adele looked at Billy, trying to judge what he was revealing, but he had his "cover" solidly back in place.

"Do you regret it? Becoming a spy?"

She then saw it again, that split second break, a stiffened posture, a slow swallow. He looked away and that surprised her. Billy made his living convincing people with a confident eye-to-eye certainty of who he was at that moment to that asset so to see him falter over what she thought was a simple question was both not only a little surprising, but refreshing, that Billy was not completely impenetrable. She did feel guilty though that she had caused it to happen.

"I'm sorry. It's none of my business..." She said hoping she was giving him permission to drop the subject.

"It's all right," Billy said again and paused. "There is never regret for the positive outcomes. When a mission goes as planned and lives are saved, it's worth all of the work to create the subterfuge."

Adele listened and watched as Billy allowed more of his mask to fall away to answer her. She couldn't help but feel privileged.

"You have to be a bit of an arrogant bugger to do this work, without it, you'd second guess decisions that could get someone killed, but you can forget yourself sometimes and wonder where the alias ends and you begin."

She found herself gazing at him sympathetically.

"Do you ever want to leave it? Walk away from all the lies?"

"Never," Billy said with a certainty that Adele felt herself. "I hate to say it, but it's what I'm particularly good at doing, the lying. It comes quite easily for me...Perhaps too easily."

She watched his expression crumble ever so slightly, detected a hint of regret and resignation at the admission, but she knew, for Billy, it wasn't about the lying, it was about saving lives that drove him to continue doing the work. She felt a need to reassure him, that becoming well versed in subterfuge didn't diminish the character of the man she knew him to be.

"You know, Rick trusts you."

"Aye, trust is essential in this business, trusting in your mates. It's a wee bit of a hypocrisy, though, since we manipulate trust to also achieve a successful mission," Billy said, Adele detecting regret. "I regret that we put Rick through quite a hazing to test his commitment to the team. We can be right bastards sometimes. A sad consequence stemming from years of well-developed distrust as operatives, but rest assured, all doubt has been disspelled about Rick. I would, without hesitation, trust him with my life."

Adele gave Billy a soft smile. The revelation though surprising for its openness didn't come as a surprise to her based on her knowledge of the man. For all of his claims to only knowing how to deceive, that it was his talent, he had revealed much more than that in her short time of knowing and now working with him.

"RIck told me that when he thought he was dying, you helped him forget, you kept him believing. You can't tell me that was all just about being a good liar, that it was just a job then. He's told me he thinks of you like a brother."

Billy tilted his head as if questioning the declaration, as if not being able to absorb the compliment, acting as if he was not deserving of it.

Adele found herself enjoying making him feel so modest, understanding that he wasn't the kind of man who sought credit, not because the CIA wasn't a career you took if you were a glory hound, but because Billy just felt uncomfortable in the glaring spotlight of overt praise. She had observed the team together and Rick had shared his own opinion of him. Billy had been the only one who had bothered to take the time to teach Rick, to encourage him, to lay praise. Rick had admitted that he had needed that sometimes. Billy freely giving him empathy, offering true friendship to him at the cost of breaking protocol or of risking revealing more of himself had meant a great deal to Rick and now, Adele saw why herself.

Suddenly, a knock on the door broke the moment and she saw Billy shift back into his role again.

"I hope you don't mind, I took the liberty of ordering some sustenance," Billy said, the mask back on again.

"No, no, not at all. I was feeling a bit hungry," Adele said as she put on her robe.

Billy walked to the door then, ever vigilant, checked the peephole to make sure it was Room Service. He then opened it.

"You ordered Room Service, sir?"

"Indeed I did, young man," Billy said, eyes scanning the man as well as the cart as the waiter rolled the cart into the room.

The young waiter began arranging the plates, removing the lids from them then as he bent down, Billy spotted the gun in the holster at the waiter's hip. He agilely moved towards Adele, never giving any indication to the waiter that he suspected anything. There was no way to tell Adele what was happening without tipping off the assassin so he had to act as normal as possible.

He saw his gun and earwig on the credenza and knew what he had to do.

"Let me get my wallet so I can tip you properly," Billy said as he walked over.

Adele was close enough now that he could grab her to get her out of harm's way, but he saw that the waiter was already reaching for his gun. He lunged for his gun then went towards Adele.

"STAY BEHIND ME!" Billy said as he placed his body in front of her.

Adele was startled then paralyzed for a split second with surprise when she saw Billy step in front of her, his gun drawn, pointed at the waiter. He pushed her hurriedly behind him. The waiter started to shoot, as did Billy. Billy got hit in the shoulder but barely flinched and kept shooting. His face was determined and focused, never wavering. After getting a few shots off, hitting Billy, but seeing that he had been hardly phased by them, the waiter ducked from Billy's hail of gunfire and decided to cut and run.

Billy watched him head out of the door. He grabbed his earwig, grimaced as a shot of pain hit his left shoulder as he moved and put it into his ear. He turned to Adele.

"Stay here. Close the door behind me and don't open it for anyone, all right?" Billy instructed. "Rick'll be here soon."

Adele nodded. She noted that Billy had been shot, but only because of a slight grimace he barely allowed to register on his face. He was steadfast in pursuing the assasin. Before she could say anything, he was off after him. She rushed to close the door behind her. It was only then that she took a breath. She reached for her earwig, placed it into her ear then tapped it to activate it. She heard Billy's voice on the other end shouting to the others that he was in pursuit of an assassin. He told Rick that she was okay and was locked in the room. She, at first, didn't register that her name was being called but then finally realized Rick was practically yelling in panic through the earwig.

"ADELE! Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes, sorry, I'm okay. Billy, he uh saved my life, but Rick, he's been shot. I don't know how badly."

"Okay, I'll let the guys know. I'm coming up."

"Okay, okay," Adele said nervous and frightened.

She left her earwig on so that she could monitor what was happening. Her helplessness made her nervous. She was fearful too, not only for Rick but also for Billy. He had taken at least one bullet to shield her from harm and could be seriously injured. It was this part of the job that frightened her the most. As Deputy Director, she could distance herself from the dangers of the missions, until she had started dating Rick, then it became more difficult to do because she would worry about him possibly getting seriously hurt or worse, killed in the field. Playing an operative now, was just that, playing, contributing her talents for one mission wasn't the same thing as living the risks on an everyday basis like Rick did, like Billy did, that reality was hitting her close to home now.

Frantic knocking shook her from her thoughts then she heard Rick's voice in her earwig.

"Adele, it's me. Open the door."

She went up to the door, checked to make sure it was him then opened it. Rick scooped her into his arms and held her. Her tension melted away in the security of his presence and in his enveloping embrace.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yes, yes, I'm okay. What's happening?"

"Billy is chasing the assassin. Casey is his back up."

Rick separated from the embrace so that he could look into her eyes and she smiled.

"GOT 'IM!" Billy said over the comlink, the tone in his voice sounding strained.

Rick tapped his earwig.

"Great! I'm with Adele. She's okay."

"BILLY!"

It was Casey's voice.

"What? What happened?" Rick yelled.

Adele saw the panic in his expression. She knew how much Billy meant to Rick, both as a fellow operative and especially as a friend.

"He collasped. The idiot got tagged twice and didn't tell us. Doesn't look bad, but between the exertion and blood loss, he passed out. I'll call EMS in."

"Roger that."

Rick turned to Adele. She could feel his need to go to his friend vibrating through his body and into his trembling hands as he held hers.

"I have to go."

"Of course. I'll get dressed and meet you at the hospital."

Rick cupped her cheek then kissed her gently and lovingly. She sighed with the relief and security it gave her.

"I'm glad you're okay. I love you."

Adele looked into Rick's eyes and smiled.

"I love you too."

He ran off to meet up with Casey and Billy. Adele closed the door and allowed the adrenaline in her system to dissipate. She then got dressed. Her eye caught the carpeting for the first time and noticed blood spots trailing out the door. It gave her a chill.

**ChaosChaosChaos**

Adele had arrived at the hospital. Rick saw her and greeted her with a hug. For a moment, it scared her, that there might be bad news to be broken.

"What? What is it?" She asked concerned.

"Billy's in surgery. Doctors seem to think he'll be okay. He was hit twice. Once in the shoulder and another in his hip. The doctors were amazed he was running at all for as long as he was," Rick said his voice sounding tired. "He'll be taking it slow for awhile, but he should be okay."

Adele saw the relief in Rick's eyes. It was relief tinged with fear though. Until he could see Billy's condition for himself, he would be nervous. She had hoped that Billy knew from their earlier talk how much Rick truly valued him and she knew that if anything ever happened to him, it would break Rick and none of the remaining ODS members would be able to bring him out of it. Rick would quit and never go back.

"You don't need to stay. Go back to the hotel and get some sleep," Rick said.

"No, I want to be here, be with you through this."

Rick had to admit that he was glad that she was staying with him and he smiled at her. They sat together in the waiting room on a couch and she leaned into him. She put her head on his shoulder. She hadn't realized how tired she was and found herself quickly falling asleep.

**ChaosChaosChaos**

Billy had come through the surgery without complications so that sent relief to everyone. Michael, Casey and Rick all had visited and had talked with Billy to reassure themselves that he was truly going to be okay. Adele had decided to visit after everyone else had. Billy had placed himself in harm's way to protect her and she needed to tell him how grateful she was to him.

He spotted her coming through the door and smiled.

"Deputy Director, how are you holding up?" He asked as he waved her into the room.

"I should be asking **you** that."

"I'm right as rain as you can see."

Adele smiled at Billy's joviality even though she could see he was in pain, hiding it from her.

"I just wanted to thank you...for saving my life," she said with sincere gratitude.

"All part of the job," Billy evaded. "I'm just happy to see that you're all right."

"I seriously doubt that it was just about doing a job, but yes, I'm fine thanks to you."

"It was an honor," Billy said, a tired smile on his face.

She looked at his pale, pained face and shook her head as she returned his smile.

"What?" Billy asked his curiosity piqued.

"Nothing. It's just...I think you underetimate your worth."

Billy, once again, gave her a puzzled look as if he didn't understand her.

"To the Agency?" Billy asked his forehead crinkled in confusion. "I'm just one of many who do the work."

"Well, of course that, but no, that's not what I meant...I was thinking more to the ODS...to Rick..." She paused. "I think you need to know that Rick...he needs you, more than just as another operative he works with but as someone he values as a friend, mentor even. I know you think leaping into danger without thought to your own safety is just a part of the job, maybe even think that your life is less valuable than the one you're saving...I just want you to know that's not true. As someone who was a recipient of that sacrifice, you need to know that your life matters."

Billy found himself left speechless from Adele's words and bowed his head for a second. When he lifted it again, he met Adele's gaze with humility.

"Can I tell you something in confidence?"

"Of course, always," Billy said, uncomfortable with the praise being lavished upon him, but inherent trust and discretion in the tone of his voice.

"Rick depends on you, more than he can express. You, of all of the ODS members, have given Rick an example to follow in how he wants to do the job. Now, I know you dislike being singled out or complimented for what you feel is just doing your job and you'll dispute that claim, but I know it to be true because I've seen it and Rick has confided in me that he respects you a great deal. As a favor to me, stay safe for him."

Billy gazed at Adele, his expression one of soft surprise and nodded, understanding her concern. He saw the love for Rick in her eyes and felt her concern towards him as a part of that love for Rick.

"Aye, to the best of my ability, I promise to be less foolhardy in the future."

Billy smiled and winked. Adele realized his disguise was back in place, but she knew that he took the sincerity of her words to heart and would respect her request in the spirit it had been given. She smiled back satisfied then left.

**FIN. Just a little Billy and Adele fluff. I could never put them together because of Rick and because neither of them would betray Rick in that way, but I think that she would feel comfortable in being honest with Billy and that her words of praise would be accepted as sincere by Billy, that Billy would have no reason to question, doubt or suspect anything more than true admiration from her. Hope you enjoyed the read. Thanks for reading!**


End file.
